Conwy: Farming families launch veal business to supply North Wales

The Llangernyw neighbours have started a veal business providing for butchers and restaurants across the region

The four partners are Shôn and his wife Leeann Edwards from Bryn Barcut (right) and Bryn and his wife Julie Ellis-Jones from Dolwen Fawr (left)

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Two farming families from Conwy are hoping to reshape consumer perceptions about one of the industry’s most neglected products.

The Llangernyw neighbours have launched a veal business supplying butchers and restaurants across North Wales.

Veal has always been a healthy and nutritious meat but in recent years its image has been tarnished by protests over live exports of calves and crate rearing systems.

As reputations go, veal has been relegated alongside the likes of foie gras and rhino horn.

But new welfare-friendly rearing systems, endorsed by the RSPCA and Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), has seen the beginnings of a renaissance.

“Over the past year or so a number of celebrity chefs on TV have begun extolling the benefits of veal,” said Shôn Edwards, a partner in Barcut Rose Veal.

“There’s been more and more talk about the meat’s tender eating qualities and its health aspects – it has less than 2% fat.

“We’re hoping we can change people’s minds about veal.”

Barcut Rose Veal was set up by Shôn, 43, and wife Leeann, 37, when they were offered the tenancy of Bryn Barcut farm by owners Bryn Ellis-Jones and his wife Julie, from Dolwen Fawr.

Bryn, 46, and Julie, 45, came in as partners, having recently re-acquired the holding after a generation outside family hands. They already produce store calves and suckler cattle.

Shôn is a customer liaison officer with CIET, a Scottish Power contractor, but already has plenty of experience rearing and selling dairy bull calves.

“Because of the lack of land, I’d always sold them on as two to three month-old stirks,” he said.

“The profit was very small and when prices began falling, I needed a plan B. Veal is a good way to make money off a small acreage as it offers much better margins.”

Having hatched the venture last September over a few “cherry wines”, the partners set about sourcing calves from local dairy farms.

Mileage was key. “We feel it is very important that the calves are not moved long distances,” said Shôn.

“We were lucky to source them from farms within a 15-mile radius, where full traceability was available.”

The partners now have around 80 British Friesian calves and are aiming for year-round finishing.

Seven arrived last week, aged two to three weeks, They will be taken to six to eight months before being sent for slaughter at J Williams & Co, Denbigh.

Orders are dispatched via a cooler van recently bought by the partnership, which plans to open up its own on-farm cutting operation.

Rearing conditions are a world away from the much criticised crate systems that are still used on the Continent. Calves are housed in large pens, with straw bedding areas, and have ad lib access to water, milk and feed.

“The calves live in open clean, sheds with clean straw and clean feeding facilities,” said Shôn.

“They are kept in their age groups, and have enough room to roam, so they can interact with each other in a more natural way.”

Meat produced this way is termed rose veal, as it is pink – unlike traditional milk-fed white veal.

Among the advocates of this high welfare system is TV farmer Jimmy Doherty, who persuaded Tesco to start stocking veal.

He hopes it will go some way to address the “hidden scandal” in which, each year, an estimated 100,000 to 150,000 male dairy calves are shot within hours of birth.

Without veal, there would be no market for the male calves of dairy breeds which aren't considered good for beef.

As yet, it remains a niche market in the UK, accounting for just 0.1% of the meat Brits eat each year.

If Barcut Rose Veal has its way, that figure will start growing very quickly.